Lady Ponsonby, née Caroline Cavendish in Costume Veneziano 1743

Jean-Étienne Liotard painted Lady Ponsonby's portrait with oil on canvas, an established medium of fine art. However, the emphasis on costume brings it closer to the world of craft and making. The lady’s dress, made from rich patterned fabric, dominates the painting. It probably involved specialized weaving, dyeing, and embroidery processes. The dress gives us clues about global trade networks of the time. The vivid colors might have come from distant lands, and the skilled labor of artisans was surely required to create the complex patterns. It is quite possible that the patterns are not European at all, but Indian or Chinese, as the fashion for ‘chinoiserie’ swept across the continent at this time. Liotard has given great attention to the way this material falls and folds; it's a celebration of the labor and materials involved. This portrait transcends the traditional boundaries between fine art and craft, and it is a testament to the importance of considering the social and economic context of artistic creation.